Duhon Sample Chapter

t e r r i d u h o n

h o W t h e

t r A d i n G F Lo o rR E ALLY Wo r KS

hoW the trAdinG FLoor REALLY W

orKSd

uh

on

FINANCIAL SERIES

SAMPLE CHAPTER

This edition first published 2012. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Registered office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/finance.

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

How the Trading Floor Really Works

How the Trading Floor Really WorksTerri Duhon 978-1-1199-6295-3 • Hardback • 368 pagesSeptember 2012 • £29.99 / €36.00

CHAPTER 1

What Are Financial Markets?

This chapter will provide the �nancial markets foundation, terminology and context to discuss the dynamics of the trading �oor. The �rst step is to realize that every time a �nancial transaction occurs between two or more parties it has rami�cations in the �nancial markets. Parties on one side of the transaction may include individuals investing in their pensions, saving up for a rainy day or buying insurance. Most of this retail activity gets funneled through larger �nancial companies such as pension funds, banks, insurance companies and asset managers, which are the main investors in the �nancial markets. On the other side of many �nancial transactions are the entities that need money and raise it either by borrowing (debt markets) or by selling part of their company (equity markets). These are generally referred to as the “issuers.” Extrapolate from there and the foundation of the �nancial markets becomes clear. It is where people with money (investors) meet people who need money (issuers). The place where the buyers and the sellers meet or where the issuers and the investors meet is called the “�nancial market” and the transfer itself often occurs via a bank trading �oor. In other words, the buyers and sellers don’t physically meet in order to trade; they use the trading �oor instead. Throughout this discussion, the broad role of banks as intermediators will become clear. This chapter will also answer questions such as: Who needs money? What is private equity vs. public equity? Why do banks give out loans and how are they di�erent from bonds? Why do derivatives exist?

BUY NOW!

www.wiley.com/buy/9781119962953

WhatAreFinancialMarkets?

27

When I was a senior at MIT, I started doing interview rounds with Wall Street banks for a position in sales and trading. My first interview was conducted by an options trader from a boutique trading company. After a very brief introduction, the trader said, “Make me a market for this pencil.”

I literally had no idea what he had just said. So the trader says, “OK, let’s play a game. I’m going to roll a die. Whatever number comes up, I’ll pay you that amount in dollars. If I roll a one, I’ll pay you one dollar. If I roll a two, I’ll pay you two dollars, etc. How much will you pay me to play that game?” I still couldn’t understand what he was trying to get me to say. What did it mean to pay someone to play a game? The trader said, “OK, whatever I roll, you’ll at least get a dollar, right? Will you pay me a dollar to play this game?” I immediately said, “Yes.” The trader then said, “Will you pay me two dollars to play this game?” I said “yes” again. The trader then said, “Will you pay me three dollars to play this game?” I said “yes” again. I now knew how to get to the right answer but the trader was clearly irritated and was asking rapid-fire questions so I had no time to think. He then said, “Will you pay me four dollars to play this game?” I said “yes” without thinking. The trader said, “Why?” At this point I knew I had made a mistake, but I was so frazzled and nervous that I couldn’t think of a good answer. I decided to brazen it out and said, “I feel lucky?” Needless to say, the interview was immediately over and I didn’t get the job.

The financial markets encompass everything from shares to derivatives to commodities. They are as broad and diverse in what they offer and who participates as any supermarket is. This seems a daunting space to then try to classify and explain; however, there is one primary driver of the financial markets that is a good framework on which to base an understanding. The financial markets are primarily driven by the supply of issuers and the demand of investors. Or in other words, the financial markets are a place where entities who need money meet with entities that have money. Where do banks and in particular trading floors come into this? They sit in the middle.

They facilitate the meeting of the supply and the demand. Within the broader world of financial markets, this particular space is called capital markets, where capital refers to cash in any currency and the focus of these capital markets is capital raising by the issuers and investing by the investors. Who are the entities who need money? Doesn’t everyone need money? Yes, at some point or another, everyone generally comes to the capital markets to raise some money. Figure 1.1 shows the position of banks in the capital markets.

HowtheTradingFloorReallyWorks

28

FIGURE1.1Banks as intermediators in the capital markets.

Capital moves from the investors to the issuers via banks acting as financial intermediators. Before going into details of who each of these entities is and what exactly they do in the capital markets, it is important to first distinguish between the equity capital markets and the debt capital markets. All issuers who need money must first decide whether they need equity capital or debt capital.

Throughout this book, there are references to the price of a financial product in the financial market. A market is where buyers and sellers meet. Think supermarket, flower market, flea market . . . Some of these are places which have fixed prices and others are places where a buyer and seller come to an agreement. In the latter case, the price is determined by the number of buyers compared to the number of sellers. This is no different in the financial market. Supply and demand are the drivers of the price of every financial product, such as equity and debt. We generally say the price of a financial product is where it recently traded unless some bit of financial news would have likely affected that price since the last trade. The key point to understand about financial products is that their price generally moves all day, every day based on new information. This information can be about the performance of a particular retailer, which will affect their equity or bond price or the state of a particular economy, which will affect financial products in that economy. However, while that information might give general direction of the price (in other words whether the price might go up or down), supply and demand determine the actual price.

DebtMarketsAlmost all companies borrow money, or in other words issue debt. The easiest way to explain this is by using an example of a young couple buying a home. They don’t have the money to buy the entire house, but they have savings which allow them to

Debt or EquityDebt or Equity

Capital - cash Capital - cash

Issuers need money: Individuals (retail)

CorporatesBanks

Insurance CompaniesPension FundsAsset Managers

Government Entities

Financial Intermediaries:

Banks

Investors have money:Individuals (retail)

CorporatesBanks

Insurance CompaniesPension FundsAsset Managers

Government Entities


29

spend up to 30% of the house price, called “equity,” and they are able to borrow the rest via a mortgage, called “debt.” They also have an income that allows them to pay off the mortgage debt (plus the interest) over the years. In theory, over time, as the couple pay down the mortgage, their equity in the house increases until they eventually have 100% equity in their house and no debt. Most companies on the other hand almost never pay down their debt entirely. Instead, they continue to borrow more and more as they grow their business.

Companies borrow for a number of reasons. For example, they want to expand their business or they want to buy a competitor. It is exactly the same as an individual going to the bank and asking for a loan. The lender wants to know why the borrower needs the money and how the borrower is going to pay the money back. If the lender doesn’t believe the borrower will be able to pay the money back, the lender won’t lend. Governments borrow money the same way and for the same reasons that companies do. For example, they borrow to build infrastructure such as roads or they borrow to expand their defensive capabilities. The lender asks the same questions to governments as to companies as to individuals. Why is the money needed and how will it be paid back?

Years ago, debt and equity were pieces of paper much like paper money is today. Whoever is holding paper money is the owner of it. It was the same with debt and equity. There are stories of people finding boxes of often worthless shares (another term for equity) or bonds (another term for debt) in their attics. They looked like a certificate. Some were very elaborate; others were very simple. Today, there is a legal contract for equities and debt which details the terms and conditions of them, but the ownership is not a function of who is physically holding the contract itself. The ownership is mostly listed in electronic registers.

What is debt? Very simply, in the financial markets debt is either a bond or a loan which represents an obligation of one party to make a payment to another party. It is a financial product which gives the borrower (generally called the issuer) an amount of money (called the principal amount) and in exchange requires the issuer to pay a coupon (also called interest) every year and then to repay the entire principal amount at maturity. The maturity can be anywhere from 1 day to 100 years, but most company debt has a maturity of between two and seven years. As mentioned above, most issuers re-borrow their debt rather than pay it down. This means that if a corporate borrows $100 million for five years, the corporate is still required to pay the $100 million back to the investors at maturity in five years, but he will often do this by borrowing another $100 million. Box 1.1 summarizes the main aspects of debt.


30

Box1.1Debtsummary

• Bonds and loans are the two primary types of debt (Figures 1.2 and 1.3).• Debt is borrowed money and needs to be paid back at maturity.• Debt has a coupon (also called an interest payment) which is due until the

principal is paid back.• The maturity of debt can be overnight out to 50 or 100 years but is

generally two to seven years.

The coupon on a bond or loan is where the term fixed income originates. We talk about the debt markets vs. equity markets but we also use the term “fixed income markets vs. equity markets.” Very broadly, the terms “debt” and “fixed income” are the same. The term fixed income is meant to distinguish between a coupon on a bond (Figure 1.2) or loan (Figure 1.3) in contrast to a dividend payment in equity that is an unknown amount and may or may not be paid to shareholders, which we will explore later in this chapter.

What is the difference between a bond and a loan? Historically, bonds are bought by investors and loans are given and held by banks. Generally, bonds are considered public financial products while loans are considered private financial products. A bond might have several hundred different investors, while a loan will often only be owned by the bank that originally gave the loan in the case of individuals and small companies or by a handful of banks in the case of larger companies. Table 1.1 compares bonds and loans.

In Figure 1.2, the bank facilitates the issuance of a bond by finding the investors in the bond. If Supermart needs to borrow $100 million, the bank needs to find enough investors that add up to $100 million. The bank manages both the relationship with the issuers (in this case Supermart) as well as with the investors. The bank facilitates this matchmaking between its issuer clients and its investor clients.


31

FIGURE1.2Example of a bond.

Supermart, a large supermarket chain, borrows $100 million for five years in the bond market with a coupon of 3% per year.

• The principal of the bond is $100 million.• The coupon on the bond is 3% per year or $3 million per year.• Supermart gets the principal of $100 million on day one from investors

who buy the bond.• Supermart pays the investors $3 million each year for five years and in five

years also pays back the $100 million.

Cashflow timeline for an investor who buys $20 million of the Supermart bond

Another distinction that can generally be made between bonds and loans is that the larger the issuer, the more likely the issuer will use the bond market. This is a function of how familiar investors are with the issuer. While an entity such as a car manufacturer, like Ford or Toyota, can easily borrow in the form of bonds from investors, a small entity such as a coffee shop will likely need to go to its bank where it has a relationship and borrow in the form of a loan. Over time if the coffee shop expands and becomes a recognized brand nationally or internationally, such as Starbucks, it may eventually have access to the bond markets.

$20 million

$600,000

At maturity, the investorreceives the last coupon payment and the principal back from Supermart

Investor receives 3%every year from Supermart

Investorpays $20 million

to Supermarton day one

initialpayment

timeline 5 years

$20 million

$600,000 $600,000 $600,000 $600,000


32

FIGURE1.3 Example of a loan.

Supermart, a large supermarket chain, borrows $100 million for five years from its bank at a rate of 3% per year.

• The principal of the loan is $100 million.• The coupon or the interest rate on the loan is 3% per year or $3 million

per year.• Supermart gets the principal of $100 million on day one from its bank

which gives out the loan.• Supermart pays its bank $3 million each year for five years and in five years

also pays back the $100 million principal.

Cashflow timeline for a bank who lends $100 million to Supermart

TABLE1.1 Comparison of a Bond and a Loan

$100 million

$100 million


Bank receives 3%every year from Supermart

Bank pays$100 millionto Supermart

on day one

Initialpayment

Timeline 5 years

$3,000,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000At maturity, the bankreceives the last coupon payment andthe principal back

$3,000,000

snaoLsdnoB

Bonds are arranged by bank

Banks distribute the bonds to theirinvestor clients

Banks may distribute loansto other banks

A bank intermediates between theissuer and the investor

Banks will retain some or allof a loan

There are thousands of investorsin some bonds

Loans generally have one to a handfulof investors

Loans are arranged by banks

$100 million

$100 million


Bank receives 3%every year from Supermart

Bank pays$100 millionto Supermart

on day one

Initialpayment

Timeline 5 years

$3,000,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000At maturity, the bankreceives the last coupon payment andthe principal back

$3,000,000

snaoLsdnoB

Bonds are arranged by bank

Banks distribute the bonds to theirinvestor clients

Banks may distribute loansto other banks

A bank intermediates between theissuer and the investor

Banks will retain some or allof a loan

There are thousands of investorsin some bonds

Loans generally have one to a handfulof investors

Loans are arranged by banks


33

There is another distinction we make in the debt markets. It is between the two types of coupons debt can have: fixed and floating. The first is an interest rate that is fixed for the life of the bond or loan, for example a borrower issues a bond with a fixed rate of 3% per year for five years.

The second is an interest rate that is reset with a set frequency based on where current interest rates are. For example, if the coupon is reset annually the interest changes every year. On day one, the borrower knows what his interest is for the first year but has to wait till the end of the first year to know what his interest cost will be for the next year and so on. These are both considered fixed income as defined above because in both cases there is definitely an interest payment to be made as opposed to dividends in the equity markets, which are unknown in both amount and whether they will be paid or not. Why borrowers choose fixed over floating interest payments is not always a case of their choosing as opposed to a case of what the investors are interested in buying at the time. Many borrowers are advised by their bank on what type of debt will be best received by the investors and will thus try to choose what they believe will be the cheapest for them. “Cheapest” means the one with the lowest interest cost. One generalization we can make however is that loans are generally floating rate and bonds are split evenly between fixed rate and floating rate coupons.

The role of the banks is crucial in the debt markets. They are either lending money to borrowers or facilitating (also called intermediating) the debt issuance to the appropriate investor base. “Appropriate” means that for some smaller borrowers they are only able to borrow from investors in their jurisdiction or region, for example a regional supermarket chain in the United States is likely only to have US investors, whereas a global brand such as a car manufacturer will have global investors. To be clear, the crucial role that banks play in the debt markets applies to the individual who needs a loan, a mortgage or a credit card, through to the largest corporate who needs to do a debt issuance. In fact, one could say that, historically, a bank’s main role, other than taking in deposits, was to lend money or facilitate the borrowing of money. Figure 1.4 illustrates how a bank intermediates access to capital.


34

FIGURE1.4 Bank intermediating access to capital in the loan market.

There is an old saying in the banking world in London. Traditionally, bankers were the individuals who gave out loans. The rest of the financial community in London used to say that they operated on the “3_6_3 rule”: bankers borrowed money at 3%, lent money at 6% and went home by 3 p.m.

Another big difference between the bond and loan market is what happens after the bond or loan is issued. The bond will change hands (in other words trade) over time, while the loan generally won’t. Once the bank has found the initial investors in the new issue bonds (called the primary market), the bank continues to play a crucial role in the debt markets because many investors don’t keep the bonds for the full life of the bond. They will sell their bond investments for a variety of reasons, which include the price of the bond going up, which means the initial investor made a profit, or the price of the bond going down because the issuer was not performing very well or because the investor no longer liked the sector in which the company operated. All trading activity in that bond after the bank first sold it to its investors is called the secondary market (Box 1.2). Because loans are often given to smaller issuers who are less well known in the financial markets, once a bank has lent the money, it is not as easy to sell a loan even to other banks. In other words, there is very little secondary market trading in loans compared to bonds. Table 1.2 compares the primary and secondary markets.

Cash Cash

Debt or DepositsLoans

Banks lend money to clients:Individuals (retail)

CorporatesBanks

Insurance companiesPension fundsAsset managers

Government Entities

FinancialIntermediaries:

Banks

Banks borrow money from investors:Individuals (retail)

CorporatesBanks

Insurance companiesPension fundsAsset managers

Government EntitiesOR

Banks use client deposits


35

Box1.2Reasonsfortradinginsecondarymarkets

• An investor who purchased his bonds when they were first issued at a price of 100% sees that the price has gone up to 101%. He decides to sell them and make a profit.

• An investor who didn’t purchase the debt when it was first issued has decided that he would like to invest in the Supermart bonds.

• An investor who purchased his bonds when they were first issued has a limit to how much the price of his bonds can change. They are now trading at 95% and he bought them at 100%. He is required to sell them now.

When an investor wants to sell a bond, he will ask a bank to buy it from him. He will not necessarily ask the bank that originally sold it to him.

TABLE1.2 Comparison of Primary and Secondary Markets

He can go to a different bank. A bank’s job is to determine the price where the bank can sell it to another investor. The bank will often buy the bond without knowing exactly to whom it will sell the bond but knowing that it has enough investor clients that it will be able to sell the bond to one of its clients.

The price where debt trades is expressed as a percentage of the principal, for example 100% or 101% or 98%. Normally, a bond is originally issued at 100% (a bond price of 100% is called par) and over time _ based on supply and demand, the performance of the issuer, the performance of the economy and interest rate changes _ that price will move up and down.

The key relationship in fixed income is between the price of the bond and how interest rates have changed since the bond was issued. If interest rates go up, the bond price will go down and vice versa. The idea is that if interest rates for five years are

tekraMyradnoceStekraMyramirP

The first transaction of a new issue debtor equity

All trades in a product after the first

The arranging bank sells the new issue debtor equity to an investor for the first time

The investor of a new issue sells the new issueback to the arranging bank or to another bank

The investor buys the shares at the issueprice and the debt at 100%

The trade price is likely different fromthe issue price


36

currently at 4% and a 5-year bond has a 3% coupon, investors will want to pay less for that bond because it is not paying 4%. This is explained in more detail in later chapters.

Trading debt

• An investor buys $50 million of a bond at a price of 100% of the principal amount. Thus the cash price is $50 million.

• The bond price moves up to 101% of the principal amount, which is $50.5 million.• The investor sells the bond and makes a profit of 1%. The cash exchange for a $50

million trade is:o -$50 million (to buy the bond) + $50.5 million (to sell the bond) =

$0.5 million profit

Continued…

Want to read more?BUY NOW!


“How the Trading Floor Really Works is an invaluable resource for current MBAs, recent graduates and experienced financial market participants alike. For the novice about to join the trading floor ranks, it provides a base framework for understanding the world they are entering. For the investment banker, investor, portfolio manager or other financial expert who doesn’t work on the trading floor, it demystifies the “black box” of the trading floor in an entertaining yet informative way.”

—Dr. Susan S. Fleming, Senior Lecturer, Johnson Graduate School of Management/School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University/Former Partner, Capital Z Partners, L.P.

“Written in a lively and digestible style, this clear and cogent book covers much more than the title suggests. In fact the book lays out much of the banking industry’s critical role in financial markets; the basic differences between various classes of financial instruments; and how trading businesses interact with other parts of a large complex financial institution. Not only for students and post-grads interested in financial markets, this book would be a great primer for anyone entering or working in a related field, such as clients, journalists, regulators, consultants and policy-makers. The vignettes and examples the author uses bring relevance and humour to this technical subject, as well as capturing the trading floor environment.”

—Betsy Gile, Board Member, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation/Board Member, Keycorp

PRAISE FOR

Terri Duhon is a financial market expert with almost 18 years of experience in financial markets. She graduated from MIT in Math in 1994 and immediately joined JPMorgan as a derivatives trader on Wall Street. While at JPMorgan, she was instrumental in developing the credit derivative market globally. Her time on the trading floor has been documented in the book Fool’s Gold as well as by PBS’s Frontline. In 2004, after 10 years on the trading floor in New York and London, Terri founded B&B Structured Finance Ltd, which provides expert consulting and financial markets training. She has led expert witness teams for financial litigation in both NY and London, assisted asset managers in assessing financial market risks as well as given hundreds of training programs globally for thousands of participants. She is also retained by a major financial regulator as an expert consultant on financial markets. Terri gives university lectures, speaks at conferences and is often quoted in the financial press. She sits on the board of two charities and lives with her family in Oxford, England.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The sample chapter is an Advanced Uncorrected Proof

Have you enjoyed reading this sample chapter?Sign up to our free Finance and Investment e-newsletter and be the first to receive free content, information and

discounts on our new and forthcoming titles.

Visit www.wiley.com and sign up today.

Wanting to purchase multiple copies?Special discounts are available for bulk purchases

of our finance titles.

To find out more and for further information, please contact Wendy Alexander:

[email protected]

978-1-1199-6295-3 • Hardback •368 pagesSeptember 2012 • £29.99 / €36.00 / $50.00

BUY NOW!

Also available as an e-book


www.wiley.com/email

Duhon Sample Chapter

Documents

Transcript of Duhon Sample Chapter